Stranger
by thecanadian13
Summary: "I'm telling you Derek, hooking up with a complete stranger while drunk out of my mind is not my idea of fun." ** Casey and Derek recall a past night of partying to reveal an unsettling discovery.
1. Chapter 1

Stranger

* * *

Casey took a sip of water as she glared through her dark lens glasses across the table at a far too entertained Derek. She couldn't believe he thought this dilemma of hers was a hoot.

Her head was still pounding from the night before as small details of the party ran loops in her mind. Her ex that had broken up with her a week ago making out with another girl and her crush flirting with one of her friends. It had not been a good night. She would have looked through the fridge for ice cream, but alcohol was easier to access in large sums.

After the first six drinks, her memory went fuzzy. She was just thankful that she had somehow made her way back home before morning.

The dizziness and headache she awoke with the next morning was not a friendly surprise however and Derek was being no help in her quest to piece together the events of the night before.

"I'm telling you Derek, hooking up with a complete stranger while drunk out of my mind is not my idea of fun."

Derek chuckled. "It is for some people Casey."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Last night I was with this amazing brunette." he said looking back and smiling at his latest conquest.

"How do you know she was amazing if you were barely conscious?"

Derek smirked. "I know."

Casey screwed up her face.

"I know I don't remember much about her. But she was hot enough, amazing in bed and so gutsy." he smiled leaning back in his chair trying to recall more about the night.

"Oh gosh. I don't even want to know what that means," she huffed.

"What? Gutsy?"

Casey nodded rubbing her eyes behind her glasses.

"The things we did," he said gloating. "The things she said and places we did it."

"Wow. Gutsy," Casey said mockingly.

"Hey. It was!" Derek fought back looking offended. "I don't remember it all, but there was definitely the back of a car; I don't think it belonged to either of us. The locker room in the ice center, somewhere cooler," he said winking. "And I know for a fact we did it once more in some cafe she works at. That's where I really passed out and she was gone when I woke, but it-"

"Derek!" Casey interrupted. Her head still throbbed, but she managed to stand up alarmed quite quickly. "Did you say you slept with her in the back room of a cafe?"

"I said a cafe, but not the back room. Although I guess it could of been the back room."

Casey looked away in panic. She tried thinking back but it was mostly a blur.

"Derek. What else do you remember about this girl?"

Derek scoffed. "I don't know Casey," he shrugged. "She was average height. She was wearing clothes when I met her."

Casey looked pissed and scared at the same time. "I'm serious Derek!" She slammed her hands on the table in front of him and leaned down looking him right in the eye.

This caught Derek off guard. He was used to Casey freaking out, but this was different. He saw it in her demeanor.

"Um. She was wearing jeans and her eye make up was blue," Derek continued, racking his brain for any information that wasn't blocked from his large consumption of beer.

Casey gulped feeling as if she might fall over and faint.

"What is it Case?"

Casey didn't answer. Just stared down at him, his eyes reflecting in her black glasses.

Derek's eyes got very wide as he stumbled on words. "Casey?"

He leaned forward in his chair and looked up. He reached for her glasses and pulled them down. His thumb grazed the top of her eye-lid, coming away with a smudge of blue eye shadow on the tip.

"This really happened?" he asked motioning to the two of them.

"Appears so," Casey said trying to register everything quickly.

Derek looked like the wind was just knocked out of him. There was no good thing to say at this point.

"Was I really amazing or were you just boasting?" Casey asked shyly.

Derek's grin widened. "Both."

Casey nodded happily to herself, as they both remained quiet for several minutes.

"So you really don't remember it?" Derek asked pained and hurt.

Casey shook her head 'no' before patting Derek on the arm and walking back into the kitchen for more water.

"Not even whether I was good or not?" Derek complained from the other room.

Casey chuckled. "Being drunk out of my mind might have actually been a good thing like you said Derek. A very good thing."


	2. Chapter 2

Stranger chapter 2

**I never intended this to be more than a one shot, but since some people asked, I will continue it for maybe a few more chapters giving a little more insight to before chapter 1 and after.**

Derek's POV

Derek really racked his brain later that day during English Lit. How could Casey not remember… him? Sure, he was really starting to freak out about it too. It was almost dream to him. Not one of those floating on a cloud dreams, but the ones that you can't quite recall whether it's real or not. Even if Casey had been as drunk as he was, could it be possible to not even recollect whether or not she enjoyed it?

Derek mentally face palmed himself in the back row of the 300 student lecture hall. Why should he even care how Casey felt? He should have been disgusted at the very least, but he wasn't; his pride was too big.

He was eager to leave ten minutes later when his professor released the class into the late afternoon breeze. His stomach grumbled and his sonar senses kicked in. He swore that when he lost his headphones or CDs, they could never be found, but when he was hungry, he could spot a lunch cart 300 ft. out.

As he approached the food stand sitting right outside the library building, he saw those familiar brown locks and his saunter turned into a power walk.

"Casey," he said casually, the vowel sounds rolling off his tongue so smoothly he found it hard to believe that she wasn't already entranced.

Casey must have heard him, but chose to ignore as she kept her body facing forward, talking to the girl in front of her.

Derek cleared his throat. "Case!" He said louder.

She spun so quickly her hair whipped the end of his nose.

"Derek?" She looked flushed.

"Yeah?" He said confused.

"Nothing, nothing," she said flashing a weird worried look to the girl beside her.

"I'll see you in organic Chem, okay Casey?" The girl said turning to leave.

Casey nodded and waved as her mildly attractive lab friend swung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards the sciences building.

Derek didn't wait for Casey to face him again before he spoke up. "I don't believe you." He waited as she looked on in puzzlement. "I don't believe that you don't remember our night… together." It felt weird saying it aloud instead of just thinking about it in his brain.

Casey chuckled lightly again like she had earlier that morning. "Why is that so hard to hear Der?" She said coolly.

Derek looked down at his shoes as he noticed one of the laces had come undone. He bent down and started tying them right then and there.

"Uh, Derek?" Casey asked peering down at him.

"Yeah?" He said popping back up.

Casey looked caught off guard. "Oh, nothing."

"Good. Now like I was saying, how can you not remember?" Derek went from calm and collected back to his antsy panicked mode in seconds.

"It just didn't mean much Derek. Unlike some people, one-night stands aren't highly regarded in my mind. It's the people that I see for more than one night." Her comment was aimed directly at his promiscuity.

"Well, then why don't you make it more than one night?" Derek went pale as he realized what had just left his lips moments later. His anger and frustration at Casey's demeaning comment had caused his rapid and spontaneous retort.

Casey looked just as out of it as well. "I was kidding," Derek spoke up finally.

Casey breathed out. "Yeah, I know." She had suddenly become very interested in her shoes as well as her eyes avoided his.

"I got to go," she said to him quickly, leaving the line before getting her food.

* * *

Casey's POV

Casey kept that fake smirk plastered on her face till she reached the sanctity that was Derek's front door. Once outside her cheeky little grin had disappeared and transformed into a look of horror. Was it her imagination, or did he look like he actually enjoyed that night? She was still out of it a bit, but she couldn't help but notice his genuine sadness when she lied and said that she didn't remember that night. In truth she had. Her judgment had been impaired, but her memory was still pretty clear.

She had seen her ex with that other slut and when stupid Derek had floated over to her all drunk and probably high, she decided to throw common sense to the wind and flirted back. Sure, her initial goal wasn't to sleep with him, three times, but it just escalated to that point. She had spent the morning before heading over to Derek's scorning herself for her immaturity and mistake, but now she found its results odd and puzzling. Sure, her brain kept yelling at the other less rational part of her about her stupid mistake of getting with Derek, but after that initial shock, she had moved on.

When Derek answered the door later, she could tell almost immediately that he hadn't remember much of anything. She was in a bind though. Derek was usually the guy she came to when she had gossip, so when she had sat down at his table demanding water, he knew something was up. He looked a little too happy to be hung over, but he was more used to it than her. As their conversation dragged on and Derek slowly dissected her every move, he quickly deduced that she had in fact done something stupid. Looking for a person to vent to that she figured wouldn't judge, she quietly let slip that she had hooked up with a 'stranger' the night before.

It wouldn't have been so bad, except Derek just had to boast about his night too. The more he spoke, the weirder it got for Casey and the more she knew she had to tell him. As she questioned him about the girl he was with, she decided it was best if he thought she didn't know about him either. Imagine the ridicule and questions she would receive if he knew that she did it consciously.

So here she was, back against his front door and hands to her head as her mind hurt from the chaos of the situation.

She went back home and slept until she would eventually wake for her first class that afternoon. She called her friend and they decided to meet up before class to talk.

Standing at the sandwich cart in front of the library, her friend approached her with concerned etched across her face.

"You sounded a bit worried Casey," her friend Stacy pointed out.

"Yeah, I have a bit of a problem."

"Ooh! What?" Stacy looked on eagerly.

"You have to know that I was somewhat drunk and upset okay," Casey began as her friend egged her on. "Well, I slept with Derek last night… three times."

Her friend squeaked with excitement. "Really? Finally, that was bound to happen soon."

Casey punched her friend lightly in the arm. "Oh please."

"Don't give me that look," her friend bugged. "I know you think he's sexy. You wanna kiss him. You wanna be with him. You wann a have his…"

"Casey." Casey and her friend froze as they heard Derek's voice behind them.

"Just ignore him," Casey mouthed as her friend started up a random topic.

"So, I can't believe that our last chemistry test wasn't curved. No one even passed." Stacy rambled.

"Case!" Derek yelled again. Casey whipped herself around to see Derek just standing there with that look on his face that meant something was bugging him.

"Derek?" She said almost like a question. She mentally sighed hoping he hadn't heard any of her previous conversation.

"Yeah?" He asked confused.

"Nothing, nothing." Casey said sneaking quick glances at her friend.

"I'll see you in organic Chem, okay Casey?" Stacy told Casey as she nodded a little and averted her attention back to Derek. She prayed Derek's worried look had nothing to do with last night, but Casey was not so lucky.

"I don't believe you." Derek spoke up. Casey tried to control her emotions, but almost immediately a look of let down and exasperation spread across her face. "I don't believe that you don't remember our night… together." Casey's brain almost did flips in her brain at the image of Derek saying it as well. It was also the way he said it. He usually talked of his latest conquest using words like 'hooked up' or 'slept with', but 'our night together'? Casey couldn't decipher whether it sounded more like having sex or a couple of friends having a sleep over. She looked down a little put out as she laughed awkwardly to produce some sign that she had heard him. Finally she gained her composure and responded quite cockily for her current state, "Why is that so hard to hear Der?"

Casey waited for a snarky response, but he just stared at her real intensely before bending down and tying his shoes right then and there? Casey looked down astonished at his random obsession with his shoes and interjected his important matter at hand, "Uh, Derek?"

"Yeah?" He asked popping back up; his common, arrogant facial expression back again.

"Oh, nothing," Casey replied in disbelief.

"Good, now like I was saying, how can you not remember?" Derek just didn't want to drop the subject

"It just didn't mean much Derek. Unlike some people, one-night stands aren't highly regarded in my mind. It's the people that I see for more than one night." Casey came off coolly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest; his eyes focusing back in on Casey.

"Well, then why don't you make it more than one night?" Derek responded with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. Casey didn't register that however and her assumption that Derek really had enjoyed his night with _her_ became more of a reality.

Casey was just about to consider the idea or something close to it when Derek spoke up again. "I was kidding."

The breath that Casey hadn't realized she had been holding in was finally released as her mind fought with the now obsolete scenario that Derek had in fact been serious.

"Yeah, I know," she spoke back trying to seem as chill as possible. Her eyes avoided Derek's and found refuge looking down at her plaid Keds. Could he see right through her? Did he still believe that she thought he was serious? Casey mentally face palmed herself. Why had she even considered the possibility that he _was_ serious?

The situation became too much for Casey to handle standing right in front of the shaggy brown haired boy and she muttered "I got to go," rather quickly. Within seconds she had whisked herself away and out of Derek's sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3/5

Casey found it quite easy to avoid Derek for the rest of the day by hanging around the campus library and various secluded study areas; all of which she knew Derek to know nothing of. The tricky part was the fact that she would eventually go back to her own place and undoubtedly run into him at some point. If he didn't show up there, he would find her at work where she stayed for five hours, four times a week.

Derek on the other hand, was not actually looking for Casey. Contrary to popular belief, he did have a life outside of hockey, his stepsister and the four classes he attended. He found solace in the new flat screen TV he acquired and a casual get together with his friends.

Casey took extra precautions that night as she made her way from a small pond behind one of the science buildings to her small apartment across campus. As she turned the key in the lock of her front door, she half expected Derek to be lounging twenty feet away on her couch. He would have gotten in somehow, whether he made a copy of her keys or broke in, and it all would have been for his dramatic reveal. The all too familiar grin of a smile would be plastered to his face with his dark brown eyes waiting for the knob of the door to turn and his ears, ready for the click.

_Click, _the ink side of Derek's pen shot out as he lowered it to the blank sheet of paper below him. His writing was too messy for his liking, but it would have to do. Her name scribbled across the top of the page looked like a four year olds writing practice, but Derek hoped she would find that aspect of his letter endearing. After the awkwardness of him and Casey's 2nd conversation on the oh forbidding topic, Derek decided it was way less painful and dare he say, safer, for him to write to Casey. This way she had time to develop her thoughts in that brilliant brain of hers and transfer them back onto paper. Also, the fact that he was writing a letter to her had to give him some extra bonus points towards getting on her good side. She was a romantic , he had to admit, and what girl like Casey wouldn't enjoy getting a letter?

Casey opened up her email as she scrolled through mostly junk. It was hard sometimes not to skip over things of importance, but it happened occasionally. Like today, apparently there had been an email sent out to all Chem students that class had been cancelled. Of course, Casey never saw the email and wasted time and gas money from her trip to class and back. As she continued to scroll through the long list of deleted messages sent in the last few days, a header suddenly caught her eye and sure enough, there it was. Short and simple, yet blatant. How did she skip over something like this? She thought back to the morning when she woke up, showered, ate and checked her email and phone messages. It was her daily routine, yet many things seemed off today. It was like she was not only preoccupied with the fear of running into that stepbrother of hers, but also another worry seemed to plague her mind.

He blamed his constant wandering thoughts on homework, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Licking the envelope, he hesitantly sealed his letter within and set it down, needing to buy a stamp and send it off later. He reconsidered emailing or texting Casey when he realized the extra effort involved, but mentally slapped himself for his laziness.

Laziness was the reason for her current misery, she told herself. If it weren't for her lack of commitment and effort in her last relationship, Casey's ex wouldn't of broken up with her and later caused her predicament with Derek. It seemed rational, but Casey, out of anyone, knew that nothing to do with human emotions was rational. Even in that state of intoxication, rational people like herself, didn't throw themselves at their stepbrothers.

Looking down at the time, Derek didn't realize how long he had spent on her letter. Throwing his hockey bag into his car, he jumped in and sped off to practice. His letter was tucked nicely into the side pocket of his bag ready to be sent off after practice.

Casey found herself at another one of her favorite studying places. Although the building was in a higher traffic area, the small rooms on the upper floor of the gymnasium were quite and scarcely inhabited. The view to her right shone over half of the campus and the small windows to her left had a decent view of the ice rink at the bottom. The two changes in scenery were refreshing. The aerial view of the city allowed Casey to concentrate on her current work and the rink below distracted her enough to not get bogged down and overwhelmed with work, yet not interesting enough to get pulled away for too long.

Derek skated back over to the bench searching for a towel or something of the sort to dab on his right cheek. A fellow player, but competitor for that starting position on the varsity team had yanked him down during a one on one shooting drill. This caused the upper part of his cheek to bleed profusely where the gash opened up at. The assistant coach shook his head disapprovingly at the other player, but was ignored. Unfortunately for Derek, he was not allowed to reenter the rink until checked out by one of the trainers on call. Slugging his bag behind him, Derek made his way up to the second floor of the building to find the medical center. The lady on call greeted him outside and told him to remove his skates and leave his stuff outside before she could help him with his cheek.

Casey gathered her belongings after finishing up the last of her economics work. She was just about to leave the room when she saw Derek's face glide by on the other side of the door. Casey froze for a second before mentally face palming herself for being so stupid. It was pre-season for Derek. Why would she ever consider coming to the rink when she knew that he was here all the time right now? Casey had not been in the right mind lately and these stupid decisions and mistakes showed it.

Derek was extremely upset as he reached inside his gym bag searching for shoes he could wear down to the locker room. The cut that he obtained from the fall to the ice earlier had caused the trainer a lot of difficulty. It was small, but deep. The lady figured that it wasn't just the ice that he had made contact with, but someone else's skate as well. By the time it had stopped bleeding and he was bandaged up, practice was over. Begrudgingly, he kneeled to grab his bag when he noticed that letter in the outside pocket was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four nights ago…**

The slim brunette stepped into the large Victorian house sitting a short 10 minutes from campus. The stylish architecture and class the house presented completely contrasted with the loud party going on within. Casey was always afraid of these parties. First off, it was too far for her to walk which left calling a cab practically the only option. Second, there were so many people here she didn't know compared to the smaller gatherings she usually attended. And three, her ex boyfriend always came. For some reason, Casey's brilliant brain didn't quite equate the fact that going to a party where one's ex shows up at all the time doesn't really help to get over him.

The minute she stepped in past the crowded foyer, a strong stench of beer and poorly mixed drinks entered her nostrils and she scrunched her nose in disdain. She was looking for a particular someone. How she would find her in this mess was an even bigger challenge than making it till 3:00 am when the majority of people started to file out.

"Caseeey!" Her friend slurred tapping her shoulder behind her.

"Zoey," Casey greeted her quite plainly.

"Why aren't you drunk?" Her friend practically screamed. Casey rolled her eyes and took out a bottle of water from her purse to show her.

"Oh nice, hard liquor Case? I wouldn't have guessed."

"its just water." Casey replied dead serious.

"Sure," her friend giggled before walking off to the kitchen.

Casey walked around observing everyone. If she was a psychology major, she suspected that this sort of behavior would have been fascinating. She attempted to start up conversations with the more sane minded, but was always interrupted by something… more interesting. Finally she saw a guy from her Advanced Economics class and approached him. He was sitting down casually sipping on a beer. _At last, someone with at least a touch of intelligence_, Casey said shaking her head.

"Hey Austin," Casey said politely as she sat down next to him.

"This is awesome right?" Austin replied, turning away a second later to burp.

Casey grimaced. Drunk. They were all drunk and having a good time. Casey looked down at her water and around here at the party and decided it wasn't worth it. Her friend wouldn't even know she bailed.

Just as she rounded the corner into the front hall, Casey caught her ex out of the corner of her eye making out with one girl to his left as another tried to get in on it from the right. It wouldn't have been so bad if not at that very second, he broke apart from the blonde bimbo and met Casey's line of sight. He gave this cocky grin, wiggled his eye brows and turned to the other girl and started sucking her face as well. Casey's face turned a bright red and she ran outside ready to cry.

For the first time that night, she was glad everyone was drunk out of their minds. Not caring if people saw her cry was one less thing to worry about.

After the initial tears, Casey flipped open her cell phone and went to dial for a cab when Zoey came up from behind her again.

"You're leaving me? You've been here what? 10 minutes? Casey please stay. Live a little for a night."

Casey turned, her puffy eyes and damp cheeks were easy enough to read for her friend.

"What happened Casey?"

"I saw my ex, with two girls. He saw me and gave me one of those looks that I just know meant, _my life is so much better without you. Look at you leaving this party. You don't belong here Casey_."

Her friend chuckled lightly. "You can't get all that from a drunk look Casey," her friend reassured.

"Well it sure felt like it did."

"Here me out Casey. One night, just this one. You take some shots with me. We'll dance and have a blast and when that dumbass sees you having a great time without him, he'll be the one missing out."

Casey wiped her cheek and smiled. "Thanks Zoe, but I don't know about this."

"It's one night Case, not some life altering event."

**Present**

Casey sat on her bed that night flipping the envelope over and over in her hands. Why did she have to steal it from him? She knew the answer of course. It was curiosity.

_Why did he have a letter with her name on it hanging out of his bag? _Not only did it have her name, but the address and return address were filled out as well.

Casey sighed and in one quick motion tore it apart.

**Four nights ago (About 20 minutes later than before)**

"Take the lime in one hand, and pour salt on the other," Zoey instructed Casey as she held the tequila shot awkwardly; smelling it looking at it indecisively.

Zoey handed Casey the salt as she stood back impatiently. Casey complied and shook a small bit of salt on her hand and the majority fell to the floor.

"I can't do this," Casey whined. "I'm book smart, not drinking smart."

"You have to lick your hand first dumby," Zoey said laughing.

Casey had a feeling that everything was a lot funnier when drunk. Zoey handed her the salt again and Casey licked her hand this time before sprinkling a little bit on.

"This is completely insane," Casey complained for the umpteenth time that night.

"Do it!" Her friend replied. "Three easy steps. Lick your hand. Take the shot. Suck on the lime."

Casey gulped and slowly licked her hand as if something were to happen before the alcohol entered her system. With a quick look back at her encouraging friend, Casey knocked back the shot in one go. Instantly she felt like coughing it up. It had a weird burning sensation as it slid down her throat.

"The lime!" Zoey said holding it up in front of Casey.

"Right," Casey replied hoarsely before sticking it between her teeth. The tangy taste of the lime quickly offset the liquor and Casey shrugged handing the finished lime slice back to her friend.

"How was it?" Zoey asked eagerly.

Casey glanced over her shoulder at her suave ex scoping out the floor for more senseless chicks. "Another," Casey replied grinning.

**Present**

Derek knocked on Casey's door for the third time that night, waiting for her to answer. It was obvious that she was there. She was a horrible liar. The light under the door was on. The microwave beeped during his time outside her place and her car was in the driveway.

"Casey, I know you're there. Can you answer the door?"

It had been a tough decision for Derek of whether to come or not.

If she had in fact read his letter, he was screwed. If she hadn't yet, there'd be questions, but nothing as bad as reading it.

**Four nights ago (About an hour and a half into the party)**

Three shots later, Casey was ready to call it quits. She had never had so much hard liquor in her life. Granted, she had barely had any before that night, but she still knew her limit.

Zoey grabbed Casey's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen area into the main living room.

"We're scoping, okay?" Zoey said as if Casey didn't know what it meant. Of course, Zoey's definition was a little different than hers, but she could infer.

She swore they had circled the downstairs four times before something-well somebody- caught her eye. She recognized him from her first year here at Queens. He had shaggy black hair that covered his piercing green eyes. Since the first day she had met him at student orientation, she'd wanted to just stare into his eyes forever. They were so perfect, she speculated whether the amazing color was real or just from tinted contacts. Thomas had been a second year, working with the new first years and giving them a tour of the campus. He had this totally cute and playful personality, somewhat different from the way Casey tended to act half the time. She'd only seen Thomas that first week on campus, but she'd developed a huge mysterious crush on him since.

Casey tried guiding Zoey toward him so it didn't look like she was stalking him out. Zoey luckily didn't pick up on Casey's sheep-dogging behavior and just slung her arm around Casey's shoulder smiling at people as she passed by.

Just as Casey was ready to pull the, "oh hey, do I know you?" line, Thomas approached Casey with a wide smile on his face. Casey's heart beat picked up and she was about to introduce herself with her free hand when Thomas turned to Zoey.

"Zoey, right?" Thomas asked her friend.

"Yeahhhh." Zoey replied giggly.

"I know that this may be embarrassing for me, but I am pretty sure you were the girl I mistook for my math professor earlier this year."

Zoey let out a high pitched laughed. Casey couldn't tell whether Zoey actually recollected the situation or found it funny for the first time, but what she did know was that she was out of there. She couldn't blame her friend. She didn't know Casey had a huge crush on the guy and it wasn't like she'd done anything. Suddenly, everything bad that had happened to Casey lately seemed like her fault.

"Ill be back," Casey whispered to Zoey.

Zoey nodded nonchalantly as she switched from leaning on Casey to Thomas.

Walking swiftly to the back of the house, Casey hunted down the shots she had taken earlier. Unfortunately, the bottle was empty and the only stuff left were nasty, cheap beers and a mickey of vodka.

"Let's take some shots!" Casey yelled as most of the guys in the kitchen shouted along with her eagerness.

**Present**

Casey just stared down at Derek's letter as if it was poisonous to the touch. Sure, it could be good, but due to experience, it could also be a prank or a joke. Temporarily forgetting it, Casey went to the kitchen and took out a Meal-In-Minutes package from her cupboards. Nothing like some microwavable fettuccini to relieve stress and anxiety.

But as the timer on the microwave counted down from ten minutes, Casey's curiosity got the best of her and she darted back to her room to grab the letter. She couldn't read it alone. Based on the thickness of the envelope, it was at least three pages. Grabbing her cell phone from the end of the bed, Casey called up Stacy and asked if she could swing by and pick her up for coffee. Casey had a potentially interesting letter in her hands and she didn't want to face it on her own.

**Four Nights Ago (seriously only about ten minutes later)**

All Casey had to say for herself three shots of vodka later was how similar, yet different it was from her tequila and lime shots. By now, it all felt the same; numbing and blurred together. One minute she was in the kitchen with a group of people she didn't know and the next she was in the foyer talking it up with girls she would never even approach during the day. Casey had just jumped into their conversation about a guy Casey didn't even know and started talking trash with them. Who was she? What was she doing?

Somehow Casey knew how weird she was being, but she didn't care. She found it… entertaining and like her friend had mentioned earlier, it was just one night.

**Present**

Derek tried peering into Casey's place through the side window by her front door, but her curtains covered all but an inch. Happy that she lived on the first floor and not the second, Derek went around to the back and tried looking through the window that faced her living room. Like the front window, it was closed and covered by a drape.

Frustrated and still nervous about his letter, Derek continued walking around till he got to the other side and found Casey's bedroom window. There were no drapes covering this one and the blinds were pulled up halfway. There, sitting on her bed, was his envelope he assumed. He couldn't tell if it had been opened from his angle and at that moment, panic overcame him. He removed Casey's screen placing it beside him on the ground and pushed hard on the window sliding it up. The next part was harder than Derek had expected. The window was at least five feet off the ground and there was only about one and a half feet between the sill and the bottom of the window he had moved up.

Jumping, he lifted himself up, gripping the outside of the window as he maneuvered himself so that his head was partly inside. By shimmying ever so slowly under the window, Derek was able to pull himself in with minor bruises and scratches.

He rubbed his hands off on his jeans as he walked over to the envelope to find it empty. He flipped it over as if to expect that his name was written on the return address, but he had no such luck. Out of frustration, he crumpled it up at realization that Casey had probably read it by now. All three and a half pages of his…. Feelings. He felt slightly uneasy just thinking about it. Just the picture of Casey reading over it made him nervous. He never really thought about an optimistic outcome in his mind unfortunately.

During his reflection, he heard that stupid microwave go off again. Where was Casey in fact? Derek strode out of Casey's bedroom, missing a golden opportunity to snoop, and went looking for her. She clearly wasn't in the kitchen where her microwave incessantly flashed the message "your food is ready." He checked the bathroom, but found it empty. For good measure, he also opened up the coat closet and pantry, only to find them Casey-less as well.

It didn't add up. Her car was here and she had just cooked a meal. For a second, Derek could have sworn his heart stopped beating at the thought of a burglar or kidnapper coming in and taking Casey, but from the look of everything, it was as if she just randomly left.

Shrugging, Derek flopped himself in front of the TV and found Family Guy playing a couple channels away from whatever soap drama Casey had it on last. Derek was just getting into the episode when the sound of a car pulling up frightened him. He quickly shut off the TV and ran to her bedroom looking to escape out the window. Somehow, Casey coming home to see Derek chilling in her apartment really didn't equate to what he had wrote in his letter. His first foot was halfway out the window when the lock to her front door clicked and the sounds of her feet grew closer.

"Der-ek!" She shouted somewhat mad, but relieved.

"Oh, hey Case." How's it going?"

**Four nights ago (Around 1:30 am)**

The excitement of being drunk was wearing off on Casey quite fast. While the extra three shots and the few beers she had apparently shot gunned in the last hour had ensured that Casey would not be sober for sometime, the high she had first experienced was now…low.

The remaining people at the party mainly consisted of the very drunk and the completely sober guys who were looking to score. Casey had lost contact with Zoey hours ago and was just looking for a way home when a few guys she had apparently done shots with earlier approached. Casey may have been drunk, but she was not totally oblivious at what was happening here.

"Hey," one of them said to her as he walked closer to her, balancing two opened beers in one hand.

Casey tried backing away, but they continued to encroach.

"What's wrong," the tallest of the three asked as her head swiveled back and forth looking for an exit.

"I was just about to leave," she said truthfully as people bustled about around her, seemingly unaware of her existence.

"Why, there's still plenty of time," the one holding the beers said reaching out to touch Casey's wrist.

Casey jumped back quickly, almost knocking some guy over in the process.

"Just lay off her!" The guy shouted behind her at the three messing with her.

"Don't be a fucker!" One of the three shouted as they walked away pissed.

Casey turned to thank her protector when her words got stuck in her throat.

"Hey Case," he spoke for her.

"Derek," she said as more of a fact. She pressed her hands to his chest and just stood there. Derek wasn't sure if he should pull back in fear of her pushing him away or lean in and smooth the hair out of her face.

He did neither and just stood there frozen as she had. Someone passed them in the hallway and bumped into Casey slightly pushing her forward against Derek. Derek again expected her to push away, but again she did nothing.

"You smell like beer and soap," Casey commented between laughs.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he replied smiling as he ruffled the hair on the back of his head.

"I like it," Casey whispered in his ear.

Normally, Derek would try to get Casey home. He would turn back into that protective step-brother role. But tonight, he wasn't in his right mind and neither was Casey. So naturally, that wouldn't happen. She would return home eventually, but first she'd make a few stops first. There would be an unlocked Mercedes a few blocks away from the party just begging for someone to feel the authentic leather interior. She'd freak when the lights came on in the house it was parked at and she'd find her way to the hockey center with some help. It would be cold there, so after twenty minutes, she'd find the warmest place that came to mind: the café she worked at. And then, when she was nearing sleep, she'd get anxious and suspect there was someone outside, so she'd leave. And just like that, she was home.

**Present**

Derek smiled at her from the spot on her bed.

"I thought there had been an intruder…" Casey's words trailed off. "I got a call."

"It's just me, Case," Derek replied somewhat nervous.

"Yeah, I can see that. You're here… In my apartment. Why are you in my apartment?"

Casey didn't get an answer as he noticed the opened letter sticking out of her purse. The cat was out of the bag. _Why was she acting so cool about this? Derek thought. _

"You read my letter." It was more of a fact, than a question.

"Yeah… yeah, I did," Casey suddenly couldn't draw her eyes away from her shoes. She just stood there rocking back and forth on her heels. "Look…" She began.

Derek stood and walked towards her as her voice got quiet.

"I just want to know. What were your intentions?" Casey asked nervously, still not facing him.

"My intentions?" Derek asked confused. He chuckled lightly. "Well, I'd hope you knew after reading it."

"I just wasn't sure…" She began.

Derek placed his hands on her shoulders and just stood there. He wasn't sure if he should pull back in fear of her swatting him away or lean in and run his hands through the smooth hair framing her face.

He did neither and just stood there frozen like she had become recently. There was no one to pass by them and push them together and there was no alcohol to throw judgment to the wind. There was however, knowledge and intuition. Knowledge Casey knew of Derek and intuition Derek believed of Casey. And the two combined was just enough to overcome the stalemate that the two had faced for years.

It was Derek to act first still as he moved his hand off her shoulders and drew her face closer to his. She picked up on his body movements almost instantly and ran her slender fingers through his hair. Their lips met for a second before Casey pulled back smiling.

"You smell like vanilla chap-stick and soap," Casey said whispering in one ear.

"I do, don't I?" Derek asked jokingly.

"Yeah, and I like it," she finished, whispering into his ear on the other side before kissing down his neck.

Derek backed the two of them onto the bed and Casey froze momentarily.

"What?" He asked. She suddenly looked serious.

"Just making sure you plan on making this more than one night," she said hesitantly as he pulled her closer into a hug.

"Don't you remember what I said earlier. Of course, it's going to be more than one night. What do you take me for? A one-night-stand kind of guy?"

Casey laughed lightly into his shoulder. "Definitely not, when would I ever believe that?"

Sarcasm laced the air, but it provided no hindrance as Casey lied back against Derek, her blue eyes masked as her eyelids fluttered closed.

"So I was just with this amazing brunette…" Derek trailed off chuckling, hours later. Casey shot him a mean, but playful look. "She is so smart and clever and I couldn't imagine anyone but her being here with me… Plus, she's so gutsy!"

* * *

Unless, you guys want an epilogue, that's it! I hope you enjoyed it and stuck with me through the long hiatuses. This was originally a one shot, but I'm happy my reviewers convinced me otherwise.


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue

Casey took a sip of water as she smiled across the table at a more than happy Derek. She couldn't believe this was him sitting across from her and not somebody else.

Her hair was messy and her clothes were an eclectic mix of her dance shorts and one of Derek's band t-shirts. She yawned for a few seconds, stretching her arms out to the side while he sipped his coffee.

"So, was that your idea of fun?" Derek asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had held for minutes as they simply stared at each other.

"Huh," Casey responded, caught off guard. She blushed once she caught on to his cocky grin. "Yes."

"And do you know why it was?" Derek asked leaning in.

"Der-ek!" Casey said surprised, shoving his shoulder playfully.

"Well?" Derek waited for an answer.

"Because-I-slept-with-you," Casey said mumbling under her breath.

"I didn't catch that," Derek said bugging her.

"Because I got to sleep with _The Derek Venturi_." Casey finally answered dramatically. "Gosh."

Casey stood up from her chair to put her glass in the sink as Derek eyed her closely.

"What?" Casey asked when she had caught onto his gaze.

"I guess I still haven't taken this in."

"Haven't taken what in?" She said glancing up momentarily.

"You." He said simply.

"Me?" Casey's voice got squeaky as her blush returned.

"I guess it just hasn't sunk in that you are mine," he said shaking his head laughing.

"I'm not yours, Derek. I am my own person." Casey said matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, yeah. I know I don't 'own' you. But you know what I mean."

"No, I don't think I do." Casey wasn't serious this time. Her eyes were low and she had a mischievous grin on her face.

"Really?" Derek questioned, rising from his chair.

"Yes," Casey replied. "Would I lie?"

Derek stood still for a while before words came to his lips. "You might."

"I wouldn't," Casey said sauntering over to him.

"Okay, well… Tell me this: Did you remember our first night together?"

Casey's playful look dropped immediately. "What?"

"I asked you if you remembered that night?"

Casey looked away nervously before raising her gaze back to Derek's. "Yeah, I do. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was nervous and confused. I didn't like the idea of me being the only one that had remembered."

Derek didn't seem concerned or upset that she had lied at all.

"Are you not mad?" Casey asked when she noticed the lack of frown or furrowed eye brows on Derek's face.

"Course not," Derek said taking her face in his hands, his index fingers pushing her brunette hair behind her ears.

Well, that's a relief," Casey said melting into his touch.

"Just tell me this then," Derek started. Casey waited, staring up at Derek and having a hard time resisting closing the distance between them again. "If you remember that night, please tell me! Was I good or not?"

Casey's transfixion broke and she was about to push Derek away when he pulled her closer to him in a hug.

"Der-ek!" The familiar shout was music to his ears. "Let go."

"Not until you answer me, miss 'I'm not a liar.'"

Derek had her enclosed in his arms, unable to escape as she breathed heavily into his shoulder.

"Of course you were," Casey gave in making Derek smile against her hair.

"That was all I wanted to know Case. Wasn't that easy? And to think we could have saved a bunch of time if you had admitted that when I asked the first time."

"But then you wouldn't have written me that sweet letter," Casey sighed stepping back far enough to mock him as she closed her eyes and put her hands over her heart.

Casey heard Derek chuckle to himself before his breath snuck up on her face and at last, his lips were on hers again.

"That letter was a one time thing, just so you know." Derek informed Casey stepping back momentarily from the kiss.

"We'll see," Casey said winking. "I know you're just a softy underneath it all."

"Underneath all this man!" Derek said proudly.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Just shut up."

Derek shook his head smiling as he brought Casey in for a much longer kiss.

* * *

"Do you have that blue eye shadow still?" Derek asked that night as the two lounged in Derek's bed.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was thinking we back track our memory and go look for that Mercedes; maybe visit the rink and-"

Casey cut him off. "Derek I was drunk that night. I had tequila shots and vodka with chase…" Casey trailed off trying to remember everything she had consumed. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not like that usually."

Derek looked down dissapointed before he jumped up from the bed and left the room. Casey was about to call after him when he returned with a full mickey of rum in his hand.

"I know it's not that same," Derek covered Casey's mouth as she was about to make a rebuttal. "But it will do."

"I don't drink hard liquor. You know what happened last time."

Derek stared off into space fondly. "Yes, I do."

"So-" Casey tried getting a word in.

"But things change; people change. I wrote you a three page admission of… feelings," The last word rolled off his tongue like he tasted something sour. "Nothing is gonna happen. I'm here. It's not like tonight is going to change your life."

Casey smiled inwardly to herself. _That's what Zoey said last time, and well… look where it's gotten me._

"Fine, hand me the rum. I blame all of this on you ahead of time."

"Wouldn't expect anything less."

* * *

**Thanks for reading **** I am planning a Christmas LwD, so expect it by December.**


End file.
